


Psychopompeii

by Eastling (Annwyd)



Category: Ancient Pompeii Graffiti
Genre: Gen, M/M, POV Multiple
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-18
Updated: 2017-12-18
Packaged: 2019-02-16 14:08:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13055559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Annwyd/pseuds/Eastling
Summary: One man looking for a friend versus all the terrors of the underworld: who do you think will come out on top?





	Psychopompeii

**Author's Note:**

  * For [gloria_scott](https://archiveofourown.org/users/gloria_scott/gifts).



> _We two dear men, friends forever, were here. If you want to know our names, they are Gaius and Aulus._  
>  \--graffiti left by a tavern in ancient Pompeii.

_From the journals of Charon, ferryman of the underworld, keeper of the way across the river Styx._

It was in the aftermath of disaster that this man came to me unbidden. You know how mortals are. When the earth cracks and shudders and the skies rain down ash on their loved ones, they get upset.

I told him that I couldn't help him. That's just how it is. I ferry the dead, and he was still living. Only gods and heroes get to come down here alive.

I told him that if I did take him across, the dog at the gate would probably eat him alive.

It wasn't my problem that his friend had died in the catastrophe those months ago, while he was overseas, seeking his fortune with the rest of the army.

"You escaped," I said, "and he didn't. Treasure your good luck."

He tried to punch me then, an idiot mortal taking arms against a servant of the gods, and I left him at the bank.

Yes, I know, he got across anyway...I suppose that's my fault. I was already a third of the way across when I saw him struggling to swim, and I worried that our lord and his queen might have my head for letting the Styx become contaminated with living mortal flesh. Not that he would have been living much longer.

I pulled him out, put him on the raft, and said not a word to him for the rest of the trip. He shivered and remained determined.

* * *

_The account of Cerberus, as later translated by Hermes of infinite language._

The man smelled of blood and living flesh and I wanted to eat him. It was my job to render him limb from limb and eat him.

He said I was a good boy!

I ran over to lick him before I dismembered him, and he threw a ball, but only one of my heads was stupid enough to try to get it. The other two were loyal and snapped at him instead.

He asked me what I thought he was. I barked at him, three heads all in unison. Obviously I knew he was a living trespasser in the land of my master and mistress.

He said he admired my loyalty, and asked me what I would do if my master and mistress were in danger, taken away from me.

While I was thinking about that, he slipped on by. My lord and lady, please, I've been a good boy. I'm sorry I let a living man into your realm, but he smelled like faith and devotion.

* * *

_A message to the Queen of the Dead from the bloody pen of Alecto, the relentless, sister of Megaera, she of the grudge, and Tisiphone, embodiment of murderous retribution._

Dear mistress, we have been tricked today.

My sisters and I sighted a mortal man sneaking in from the gate. How he passed by your three-headed hound I don't know, but we Erinyes had no intention of letting him give us the slip. Believe us, for we have served you well in the past! This pitiful mortal was just too much.

When he saw us he came to us open-handed. Still shivering from the waters of the Styx, his clothing torn from the jaws of Cerberus, he told us he was no mortal man at all, but only a curse made of grief given form.

Of course we did not believe that. But he said, "If I seem to be alive it is only because love still lingers in my heart," and it seemed poetic. That didn't impress us. Poetry is not for saving souls; it is for appeasing you, mistress, down here in the dark.

We tried to tear him apart, of course, as is our duty. But when we lashed our scourges across his flesh, he began to argue with us about it! This insufferable mortal! He claimed that Tisiphone struck more elegantly than I did, and I struck with greater precision than Megaera, and even she couldn't hurt him as well as his grief could.

While we argued about how to proceed, he said he would come back later for proper punishment, and he left, just like that.

He has not returned, and my sisters still aren't speaking to me after our argument. Please advise us, mistress, great queen of the dead who judges all souls bound to death.

* * *

_A joint missive from Sisyphus and Tantalus, addressed to Hades, lord of the underworld._

Yes, we let the intruder by. I wouldn't say we're sorry, either.

As a matter of fact: he gave us cool water to drink and eased our load, and he shared stories with us about life in the light above. We are thirsty and weary from your judgment! We took what he offered gladly.

He told us stories of a friend he once sang and drank and danced with, a friend now down here in the dark with us where he did not belong. We gave him sympathy back, and we let him go on by.

He also suggested we petition you for breaks, and he called several judges of the dead over from nearby to discuss the issue for our benefit.

We realize he was doing that to distract them from him, of course, but that doesn't matter. We really don't care, at this point. We are human souls and tired of being your playthings. Even if we never escape, we've decided that we're quite all right with this fellow getting his friend back.

* * *

_The testimony of Persephone, Queen of the Dead, savior-goddess of all mortal souls, before her king, Hades, the good counselor over all those consigned to the dust._

You've asked me for my judgment on the matter, my lord. I have words for you as I always do.

I saw what I saw from my throne, as usual: just another lost soul come before me to plead some futile case. That this one was living sparked my interest a little, I must admit. But in the end he was no different than all the others who have called on me as Proserpina, lady of the fruitful earth and the darkness of death that it contains for all once-living souls.

I asked him what he wanted. That much is the politeness I owe such souls, and I expected little of it. Many had come before me just as he did. Some have come to try to claim their lost love; others, to try to lay claim to my body. Those are typical affairs.

This man said, "I have come for a dear companion, a friend above all others."

You see, he came across as the usual fare at first. Mortals are always weeping over each other's deaths, as my mother once wept over me. You know I am unmoved.

"What makes your love for your friend different than Orpheus's for his Eurydice?" I challenged him, and I waited for him to spout some poetic nonsense.

But instead he said, "I am not here to appeal to your love of drama, queen of the dead."

Of course, that put me in a minor wrath—what mortal has the nerve to come before a queen among gods and claim he isn't here to entertain her? But I was merciful and willing to hear him out. "Then speak quickly before I grow bored," I told him.

And he said, "Orpheus came here and tried to be a master over poetry to save his wife. That never works well; stories change people who try to own them. I've already given my soul and his soul to the ages. We sung songs together. We shared poetry with each other. We left our words to be lost in ash—"

He stopped here, and I observed that he was suffering from his grief, as mortals do.

But he kept going after that, and he said again, "I'm not coming here as a hero to command you return my friend to me with the power of song. I'm just a man keeping an oath. I promised Aulus we would be friends forever, and if you keep him down here as some kind of fading friendless shade, neither of us can keep that promise."

So, my lord, you see why I sent him on to you. I don't have the authority to make a judgment over such things here; my rule is over mortal souls and hearts, not the language of contracts.

I'm afraid you know who you're going to have to fetch. Be quick about it, and don't let him steal any of our riches.

* * *

_From the journal of Hermes the many-turning, messenger of the gods, ruler over all contracts made in words between mortals and gods alike. Some time after the destruction of Pompeii._

I met the interloper in the depths of the underworld, where only I'm meant to be able to tread back and forth with ease.

"Well, aren't you a clever guy," I told him. And I waved to the door. "Aulus, come on in."

Well, as you'd expect, they ran to each other and embraced, shade and mortal man. They wouldn't have been able to touch and grasp each other, but I gave them a little magic to do it. I thought they'd earned it at this point.

Still, when they straightened up and looked at me, I told them what the cost would be.

"You've got to know you can't go back to Earth at this point," I said to both men, standing hand in hand before me, reunited.

Aulus frowned and started to say something, but Gaius waved him off. "I'm still alive, so they can't keep me down here for good, and I won't leave him. It's not as if there aren't options other than Earth, right?"

"That's right," I said. My respect for him went up a notch or two. Most of the humans who've gone off the deep end and made the journey into the underworld have done it thinking it wouldn't change them. This man knew better.

"I always wondered what it was like in the stars," Gaius said. "Don't you remember, my friend?"

"That's right," Aulus said. "We talked about that, didn't we?"

And Gaius grinned. "You do remember. How if the gods could live at their ease up high on the top of Olympus—"

"We'd outdo them," Aulus said, "and travel to places even they had never seen."

I looked at the two men thoughtfully now. "I don't think I'll be mentioning that one to Zeus and Hera," I said. "They might get a little jealous of you two." I held out my hand. "Ready to shake on this new deal you've got for life?"

"Don't we get more details?" Aulus asked.

"It's a new kind of life," Gaius said. "Those don't come with proper instructions at all."

He took my hand without hesitation, and just like I'm supposed to do with the bold, I blessed him with my favor.

* * *

_A message left scratched into stone on the dark side of the moon._

We two dear travelers, friends forever, were here. If you want to know our names, you are out of luck; we will be trying new ones for a while now. But there will always be two, and you will always see them together!


End file.
